(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Swedish drugmaker Orexo AB's drug to treat opioid addiction, the company said on Thursday.

The drug, Zubsolv, is a tablet that dissolves under the tongue. It combines the drugs buprenorphine and naloxone and will compete with similar products, Subutex and Suboxone, made by British's Reckitt-Benckiser Group Plc.

Orexo says its drug offers a benefit to patients over Suboxone because it uses less drug to achieve the same effect. It also has a menthol flavor it says patients in a study preferred.

In March, the FDA rejected a similar drug from Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc and asked for additional data proving it worked. Titan's drug, Probuphine, is a long-acting version of Suboxone that is implanted under the skin.

Orexo said opioid dependence affects nearly 5 million people in the United States and that only 20 percent receive treatment.

Orexo said it expects to launch the drug in the U.S. around September.